CBS is reporting that they could be heading to the MWC.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...-reach-conference-decision-in-next-two-weeks/

I think it's a win/win

sitting here in the top of the 7th and SDSU leads 4-2. Jake Erickson the starting pitcher threw a gem through 6 2/3.

Come catch these guys play at Tony Gwynn stadium, not only fun to watch but also great talent on the field.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

good catch dirt balls Login to view embedded media

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/baseball/d1

Nice to see SDSU can still drub the Rebels at UNLV.

The SDSU women tied UCLA for fifth place in the tournament against six of the teams ranked in this poll. "http://rankings.golfweek.com/rankings/default.asp?T=wt". There were 12 teams altogether. I don't know how U$C is not ranked higher. They won the seeding medal play round by 15 strokes and then smoked Cal, Northwestern and Texas in matchplay on the way to the championship. They shut out Texas 5-0 in the final round. Hang in there, Matt

I was wrong in that we lost a tiebreaker after the tie on the golf course. Hang in there, Matt

He could get poached, but ...

He's the highest paid public employee in the state of Nevada with a base salary of $1M. He gets small bonuses for COY, season and tourney champ, NCAA appearances, etc, that will add $100K. He also gets 25% of all ticket revenue over a $1.4M threshold. In an 11,500+ arena, that means he gets 25% of everything over an average season ticket price of $121 if they sell out. This is Reno, it's like Albuquerque with casinos. There's not a lot to do. It's likely he'll make a lot of money from this ticket commission, and can envision scenarios where it adds $500K or more to his comp.

If he leaves before 2020, he owes the university $1M, and he forfeits all bonuses if he leaves right after the tournament.

There are a lot of P5 schools that will gladly double what he's earning and pay the forfeitures. But it will be harder to dig him out of Reno than you might think. Wealthy donors are paying $700K (w/ bonuses) of his compensation, so he must have a good relationship with them. He's putting Reno in the national spotlight, and next year's team is poised to make an even deeper run in March. Wouldn't surprise me if his compensation was upped again. Everybody in the State of Nevada knows their top employee is at risk of leaving.

I'd love to see him stick around. He's like Alford and Eustachy, coaches that are fun to hate ... but they can coach, and they up the competition level in the MW.

Great turn out of NFL teams at SDSU Pro Day today:

Login to view embedded media

thank you. 87-83 over Texas. That should be another $25,000. Or so for our coffers.

It feels a little premptive but I am sure he will get a lot of insight on what to improve on.

Login to view embedded media

Looks very solid if Johnson and Baldwin can remain healthy. I guess linebacker would be or strongest position for two deep. Who are the best pass rushers do you think?

Okay, the way I count it, we had eleven guys on scholarship this last year, as follows

1. Trey Kell, senior., guard;
2. Malik Pope, senior, small forward;
3. Kameron Rooks, senior, center;
4. Devin Watson, junior, point guard;
5. Jeremy Hemsley, junior, shooting guard;
6. Max Montana, junior, small forward;
7. Nolan Narain, sophomore, power forward
8. Jordan Schakel, freshman, shooting guard (red shirt);
9. Adam Seiko, freshman, shooting guard;
10. Matt Mitchell, freshman, small forward;
11. Jalen McDaniels, freshman, power forward.

Additionally, we have (I believe) three walk ons:

1. Michael Sohikish, junior, point guard;
2. Patrick Fisher, sophomore, shooting guard;
3. Emmanuel Wilson (?), sophomore, shooting guard.

If three of the scholarship players leave, that will leave us at eight scholarship players for next year, and we are allowed to have 13 scholarship players.

We have three guys who have already signed their LOI's to attend next year:

1. Jordn Campbell, point guard;
2. Joel Mensah, power forward;
3. Nathan Mensah, center.

If we stand pat, we will, again have eleven scholarship players, with two scholarships available.

The regular signing period, this year will run from April 11th through May 16th.
Though, one recruit, Tevian Jones, said he would declare on Wednesday (March 21st).

Recruits, that I found, showing some interest in attending SDSU include:

1. Wendell Mitchell, JC transfer via Baylor, combo guard, http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/wendell-mitchell;
2. Tevian Jones, small forward. https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/tevian-jones-96065;
3. Bryan Penn-Johnson, center, https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/bryan-penn-johnson-4995;
4. Majur 'Major' Majak, center, https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/majur-majak-206531;
5. Trent Williams, point guard, Login to view embedded media
6. Marlon Taylor, JC, small forward, Login to view embedded media

Does anybody know the status of these recruits?
Even if we hold one for a transfer, it would be good to sign at least one of these prospects.

IBTWWW
IBTWWW

I'll take the Aztecs 78-71 with Malik and Watson having big games.

Boise State (23-9) won the regular season and post season tournament for MWC. That locked in the typical one team bid for the league. Even better, Boise got a 16 seed in NCAA's and proceeded to get waxed by #1 Louisville 74-42 in the first round in Louisville.

In Women's BB the top seeds get to host the first two rounds.

BTW, Gonzaga was also the lone team from WCC for women's NCAA's. Chalk up another one for Zags to MWC argument.

Remember the 3 start PG out of Mission Bay HS? Committed then got out of his LOI to Tulane and then signed with Georgia Tech. Started as Freshman and was backup as a Sophomore after a highly rated PG. Didn't play in any games after Dec 22.

Announced today that he is transferring out of Georgia Tech and all indications are "somewhere closer to home.".

Held offers from SDSU, Nevada, Arizona State, USC, etc. in high school.

Does SDSU take him? Sit as a transfer for a year for seasoning and in two years, SDSU would have a need for Guards in underclassmen ranks...................??

One of my favorite DBs just gnabbed one.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

I'm a very proud Aztec today.

Consider for a moment the primary flaw this version of Aztec basketball displayed. Regardless of any personal tendencies or coaching decisions, we simply didn't play well in the second half of games. Arizona St, Fresno, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada ... probably several more. We lacked whatever it takes to finish games strongly.

Come up with all the justifications for yesterday's loss you can eat. Poor FT shooting, 1H turnovers, blown layups, etc. Then consider how successfully we closed out that game. Our kids did exactly what was needed to come back. Hard defense, offensive movement to the rim, no TOs, a few timely shots, calmness and belief. We were beaten by a guard who had a fabulous day in March. Kemba, anyone? We had a clean March Shot and missed.

I'm not smart enough to attribute the increase in fortitude that was displayed over the last two months. At the very least, we'd all agree the players played better and the coaches coached better. The players and coaches gave us a very memorable and ultimately enjoyable basketball season. I don't think a single one of us will forget the image of that shot hitting the left side of the rim as the clock expired. A March Moment that went the other way.

But it was a MARCH Moment, and at the beginning of February, I don't think any of us saw more than unrealized potential. This 2017-2018 Aztec basketball team gave us two months of arguably the best basketball we've seen post-Kawhi.

Aztec for Life, and can't wait to see how next season unfolds.

First USC complains the rules are stacked against the PAC-12 for getting into the tournament. Cry me a river.

Now UCLA falls to the Bonnies. It really has been a great last 10 days.

The final practice was the shortest practice but it was a good one nonetheless. I'll have a full review this week but most of the thoughts I've posted here haven't changed much at all. It's pretty clear who/which groups stepped up this spring. Some thoughts from today.

-I haven't mentioned Ethan Dedeaux enough just because he's been consistely good. He never makes any crazy downfield catches or anything but he's easily the most reliable receiver in the offense.

-Trenton Thompson is a guy the coaches are very high on and so am I but because you could tell all spring that he was usually 80-90 percent, Taylor Hawkins seemed very close to him in terms of ability. My guess is Thompson will be the starter to begin the season but him and Hawkins could share a lot of time this season.

-WE Isiah Macklin has been out all camp rehabbing but he actually ran some routes today and looked pretty decent to me. He definitely has a chance to still make the top-five, but then again he needs to stay healthy. (It's worth reminding that players coming back from injury are usually much more 'fresh' than the rest of the players that have been beat up all camp.)

-During 1v1s I finally got to see a rep where Darren Hall lined up against Fred Trevillion and he was just outclassed. Trevillion is still clearly the number one guy heading out of camp in terms of ability. (Hall covered him much better on the next rep though.)

-I have Tim Wilson as my No. 2 and Isaiah Richardson and Ethan Dedeaux tied behind them… Rocky did single out Dedeaux as one of the better performers of camp but I think that’s because he has a thing for receivers who hardly ever drop passes…

-Just another note reminding you all that Kyahva Tezino is really, really good covering running backs. I will not be surprised if he gets some interceptions this year because he’s such a smooth runner out in space. At the same time, he's so good at blanketing running backs that I can see opposing quarterbacks just avoiding him entirely, forcing them to throw a dangerous pass or OOB instead.

-With Ronley Lakalaka out, Troy Cassidy has moved up with the first-team in case you guys are wondering where he stands.

-The biggest (but still very minor) fight of camp happened today when WR Liam Cabrera broke the ankles of S Marc Ellis during a 1v1 rep. The running backs group just finished up a drill on the far end of the field but they all sprinted to Cabrera when they saw it. Ellis eventually caught up to Cabrera at the end of the rep but Juwan Washington got there and started pushing Ellis off. Ellis retaliated and Washington basically did a wrestling suplex move to throw Ellis on the ground. More shoving ensued by teammates but it was eventually broken up by the players.

-Juwan Washington and Parker Houston are easily the biggest trash talkers on the team by the way.


-Ryan Pope has been feeling the heat from Zach Thomas as of late but he ended up having a very strong finish to camp in my opinion.

Thomas actually took reps at right guard today, but my point still stands. Starting right guard Keith Ismael moved over to center on the first team to get some reps in place of Dom Gudino, which is why Thomas was at guard.

-Mike Schmidt at the very least has shaped up a very versatile group of seven starting-worthy linemen. That’s a great spot to be in entering the summer whereas a lot of schools around the country will be figuring out their starting five up until next fall.

My top o-line performers (in order):

LT Tyler Roemer
OC Dom Gudino
RG Keith Ismael
OG/OT Zach Thomas
RT Ryan Pope
LG Daishawn Dixon
OC/OT Nick Gerhard

Regardless of what happens in the fall Mike Schmidt will have a ton of options to play with if a player gets injured at any of the positions. The one guy you really want to remain healthy is Zach Thomas because he has picked up a lot of reps at every position during camp.

-SDSU is leaving camp really solid at corner but they obviously need a fourth option. I can easily see Luqman Barcoo and Rashaad Scott stepping in this summer to join the top three of Ron Smith, Kyree Woods and Darren Hall.

Garrett Binkley is probably the fourth corner right now but he missed a lot of camp. Tayari Venable didn't really take advantage of his chance so this may not be the year for him. (I should mention that Kaegun Williams hit him with a very impressive juke move after the catch during 7v7s.)

Final note on the last day is this clip from the end of practice where Rocky Long called over new DB coach Richard Sanchez out of the blue to give the defense signals. Sanchez has yet to learn the signals so it was all in good fun. The players seemed to enjoy his effort

Login to view embedded media
You can post any questions you like on this thread and if I don't respond, it's probably because I plan to cover it on my camp review post this week.

Game is at 4.20pm and I plan on getting there around 3.30pm. If a group wants to show I'll try and get a bunch of prime seats.

This is the Mission Valley B-Dubs.

Let me know.

Drinks are on Ruben as usual.

Rocky Long said today that Noble Hall will play nose tackle and admitted that he probably should have left him there after reflecting on last season.

I don't see SDSU pursuing any big nose tackles for its last remaining scholarship, though.

We need to acknowledge Dutch in his first year as head coach. As pointed out in another thread, he’s not playing with the guys he recruited. There are talented individual players, but they were not playing as a team. He stayed the course and kept plugging away until these individuals molded into a team. When you notice how the Aztec players didn’t receive accolades from the media or coaches polls for the honor teams in the conference, it would appear that Dutch didn’t have much to work with. Well, last nights game was certainly a statement game. The Aztecs played great as a team and that can be attributed to coach Dutcher and his staff. They have been playing that tenacious defense that the Aztecs have been known for, but haven’t been doing a lot of earlier in the season. Personally, I think this was validation of the job he is doing!

The P5 conferences are seemingly stabilized. That means if we are continue to improve our athletic relevance, the MWC must change.

The model is probably the old Big East that gathered all the top regional teams and was a player overnight. Initially, it was basketball and football, then the best football programs were poached, but basketball remains.

I still argue that we add Gonzaga in basketball, and BYU and New Mexico State in football and basketball.

That evens us out at 14 for football and basketball (Hawaii only in football, Gonzaga only in basketball).

NMSU plays in Las Cruces, which is obviously not a media hotbed. But they are routinely a top basketball program, and have been for many years ... even though circumstances have led to a lot of conference hopping. Their basketball arena is as large as Viejas, and they have rabid fans that travel. The football team hasn't been good, but it's generally competitive with UNM - okay, that's not saying much. The stadium seats 30,000, and there are a lot of you that think that's ideal.

If we add those three basketball programs, we leapfrog the American and snuggle up to the P5 conferences in top-to-bottom quality. Some years we'll be in the top 3 to 5 conferences. The schedule is challenging, but the realignment is being considered because quality pre-conference games are harder to get. The SEC has 14 teams and they make it work. The trend is toward a 20-game conference schedule, so we'd play 7 teams twice, and 6 teams once per year.

I know the WAC tried this before and failed (hence the birth of the Mountain West), but those were different times. The PAC 12 won't add us, and the Big 12 isn't looking to expand ... and we're a bad geographic fit.

Personally, I'd rather see us merge with the American and create a National conference. Cincinnati, Memphis, San Diego, Boise, New Orleans, Fresno, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Hartford, Las Vegas, South and Central Florida, San Jose, Philadelphia, Reno ... those are some attractive media markets. But I think that idea may have lost steam.

So I hope something happens. Y'all don't like Craig Thompson, but if he can pull off a significant realignment ...